Hello group! We can use this to add information to our outline.


Porters 5 Forces -

1 - Threat of entry of new competitors

2 - Intensity of competitive rivalry

3 - Threat of substitute products or services

4 - Bargaining power of buyers/customers

5 - Bargaining power of suppliers

My initial thoughts - All 5 forces are driven almost completely by government policy at this point. If the govt. put more money into biodiesel, entry of new competitors rises, competitive rivalry decreases, threat of substitutes is about the same. The power of suppliers will be low until the overshadowing power of the govt. decreases, and buyer power is proportional buyer demand.








Cool

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel
^Really good info, at least as a place to start.

Major characterisctics -
Chemical formula of biodiesel
How it is made
It comes from veg. Oil, animal fats/oil
Allows for muti use of bio-oil, but it is less consistent after 1st use
Higher flash point than diesel
Different % mixes
Standardization problems/innovation
Market size
Make-up
US, Brazil, China, Europe
Europe is the largest current consumer
Largest producer?????

Biodiesel Compared to Petroleum Diesel
Advantages
• Domestically produced from non-petroluem, renewable resources
• Can be used in most diesel engines, especially newer ones
• Less air pollutants (other than nitrogen oxides) and greenhouse gases
• Biodegradable
• Non-toxic
• Safer to handle
Disadvantages
• Use of blends above B5 not yet warrantied by auto makers
• Lower fuel economy and power (10% lower for B100, 2% for B20)
• Currently more expensive
• More nitrogen oxide emissions
• B100 generally not suitable for use in low temperatures
• Concerns about B100's impact on engine durability



Production/Consumption -
2009 total production= 15760 million L
Germany, us, france, argentina, brazil=68.4%of world biodiesel
Spain and canada are emerging markets
Us is EU biggest supplier of biodiesel 700million euros worth of fuel to a total market worth 5billion euro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel_by_region
^We should look at the sources of this Wikipedia article, because it's exactly what we need, but having Wikipedia cited looks bad.

Competitive landscape -
Largely driven policy at this point.

Global trends -
“The Growth and Direction of the
Biodiesel Industry in the United States”
Growth, pushed by govt. Policy
EU imposed import tax on us biodiesel imports, reduced blend target to 6.3% (2010)
China new automaker subsidy for new cars w/ biofuel tech
Germany just passed legislation to tax biofuels, rough time.

Pricing trends -

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/price_report.html



Supply chain dynamics -
http://rpm.nrel.gov/transatlas/launch


Future outlook -
More policy issues

Major Mkt segments -
Europe
France- diester industries - 2250 mil L/Y
Ger - ADM Biodiesel - 1130 mil L/Y in EU, global is 1700 mil L/Y (brazil, US, india, indonesia)
Swiss- Biopetrol Industries
Ger- Verbio
Ger- Cargill - 420 Mil L/year
Italy- Ital Green Oil

Total EU CAPACITY= 23500 mil L/Y, 276 production facilities